The Saiyan Menace
by MegaBob452
Summary: After learning that Kakarot survived the destruction of Namek, Vegeta travels to the stars in search of a Super Saiyan. His journey takes him beyond the reaches of Frieza's empire, into the domain of another galactic empire. He arrives just in time to witness a turning point in the empire's history, when Darth Vader pursues the rebels that have stolen the plans to the Death Star.
1. Border Space

Chapter 1: Border Space

Hurtling through the depths of space was a sphere shaped spaceship, about the size of a small house and having a simple black and white paintjob. The words _Capsule Corporation_ were printed on the upper half, marking the spaceship as a creation of Dr. Briefs. While the spaceship had been built by a human, the designs used to construct it had been reverse engineered from Saiyan technology salvaged from the space pod that had brought Kakarot to Earth as a baby. The familiar technology made it the perfect vehicle to transport the Prince of all Saiyans through the stars, introducing a new realm of space to Prince Vegeta.

Even though he was a relatively short man with black hair that stood straight up, Vegeta was one of the most feared men in Frieza's empire. And very recently most of the few individuals that were feared even more than him had become very dead, most of which Vegeta had killed personally. By Vegeta's recollection the remaining number of people in the empire that were more powerful than him could be counted on one hand, one of which he was searching for in order to learn the secret of becoming a Super Saiyan.

For now Vegeta was still wearing the basic version of Saiyan battle armor he took from Frieza's ship back on Namek, skintight black shirt and pants with white armor that covered his chest and back while having brown straps over his shoulders, along with white gloves and boots. A large hole and a smaller hole in the front and back of the armor left skin exposed, a result of energy beams piercing him, twice. So far he hadn't found a suitable set of armor to replace it with, as there hadn't been any Frieza Planets along his journey so far.

Inside the spaceship Vegeta occupied his time with physical training, using the ship's artificial gravity generator to simulate fifty times Earth's normal gravity. The ship could support up to a hundred times normal gravity, but 50G was the highest Vegeta wanted to use while traveling between planets. It wasn't healthy to keep switching between 100G and 1G in brief intervals, having to reacclimate between extremes again and again. 50G was intense enough to train in but still be ready to enter low gravity environments on a moment's notice, which was necessary when searching from planet to planet for an individual.

At the moment Vegeta was training with a workout comprised of many punches and kicks, while he was also hovering ten feet off the floor and upside down. At 50G it was a low intensity workout, something to pass the time during his journey. Out one of the windows he saw the stars streaming by as his ship traveled faster than light, achieving that speed by warping space around the ship. Vegeta let the ship's autopilot chart a course around local space obstacles on its journey, just in case debris from Namek's destruction made it out of the star system. The ship had passed Namek's star system a few days ago, but that a dead end as far as finding Kakarot was concerned.

While Vegeta was training a beeping noise interrupted him, which was coming from the ship's control console. Vegeta stopped his workout and landed next to the controls, finding that the beeping noise was caused by an incoming communications signal. Vegeta pressed a little green square button to respond to the signal, and a circle shaped screen on the console activated and showed the face of a purple skinned alien. Even though Vegeta had never met the alien before, he seemed somewhat familiar.

"I thought I killed you Cui," Vegeta said.

"_I'm not Cui," _the alien responded. _"My name's Kiwi."_

"Don't care," Vegeta said. "You all look the same."

"_I get that a lot," _Kiwi admitted. _"Anyway, unless you're headed for Frieza Planet 66, you'd better turn your ship around."_

"Why?" Vegeta asked.

"_You're almost at the border," _Kiwi answered. The screen changed to a star chart for a few seconds, showing where Vegeta's ship was before changing back to Kiwi's face. _"I'm under orders to destroy any ship that attempts to cross."_

Vegeta laughed and shook his head at the idea of someone trying to stop him. "And whose orders are those?"

"_Lord Cooler's," _Kiwi answered.

"What is that prick up to this time?" Vegeta asked.

"_You know I can't talk about that on an open channel," _Kiwi said. There was a pause before he continued. _"But rumor has it that he's looking for some lost warrior across the border. No one's heard from him since."_

That news got Vegeta's full attention, as it could possibly be a lead to finding Kakarot. "Alright, I could use a pit stop."

On the screen Kiwi looked away, which Vegeta guessed was to operate a comuter._ "Landing pad 9 should be available when you get here."_

"Over and out," Vegeta said, and he pressed the green button again to end the communication. Then he pressed a few more buttons on the controls to change course, steering the ship towards Frieza Planet 66.

* * *

Like most other planets that had been conquered or purchased by Frieza's Empire, Planet 66 was once a lush and life filled world. That life had been extinguished long ago to make the planet a blank slate, which had then been remade to suit any purpose the empire required in its sector of space. Now the entire planet was a barren wasteland and used as an outpost, possessing twin bases at the planet's magnetic poles. At the center of each base was a large white command tower, which was surrounded by thousands of large plasma cannons and sensor arrays, and surrounding those was a ring of round landing platforms.

The purpose of this outpost was to monitor the border between galactic empires, a pair of regimes that were known for not getting along in the past. While the border was many thousands of light-years long, most of that space was filled with hazards such as plasma storms and gamma ray bursts, restricting travel for all but the most foolhardy of voyagers. Frieza Planet 66 orbited a star near one of the few safe sectors to cross the border, making it a perfect world to monitor the space between and stop unauthorized travel.

Out of the dark southern sky the Capsule Corporation spaceship flew in for a landing, spinning itself into an upright position during its descent. Landing gear unfolded from the bottom, allowing the ship to gracefully land in the center of one platform. The spaceship's door opened and swung on a bottom hinge, revealing steps on the door's backside that reached the landing pad. The spaceship was the only one of its design on the planet, raising the suspicions of a squad of soldiers sent to welcome the new arrival.

Vegeta ignored the soldiers as he walked down the steps out of the spaceship, setting foot on a world with moderate gravity. At first he was about to just walk past them, but stopped when he remembered something about his spaceship. He walked around the spaceship until he found a slightly raised square on one side, where he placed his hand and pushed on it. Pushing the button activated the collapsing feature of the ship's capsule technology, making it disappear in a cloud of smoke and leaving a finger sized container on the landing platform.

"For once human tech is good for something," Vegeta muttered, picking up the capsule and pocketing it underneath his armor.

At the edge of the landing platform the soldiers stood at attention, while one of them stepped ahead of the others. "Prince Vegeta, sir, Station Commander Kiwi is expecting you."

"Tell him I'll be a while," Vegeta ordered, walking past all of the soldiers. He heard some of the soldiers sigh in relief after he passed them, giving away the fact that he was still feared. "While I'm here I need to get something."

Instead of following protocol and meeting the person in charge of the base, Vegeta instead headed for the closest armory to pick up a new set of armor. He chose the same type of armor that he already had, having grown accustomed to it and wanting to have an undamaged version. After getting the new armor Vegeta made a stop at a private washroom, taking an hour to clean himself up and trying to look presentable.

Once he was satisfied with himself Vegeta walked to the base's central tower, a tall white building that overshadowed everything else. Inside the tower he took an elevator to reach the top, where the most luxurious offices were kept for the highest ranking officials. On the top floor Vegeta entered the largest of the offices, walking into a spacious room that had a large window replacing one of the walls. There was a desk with a computer close to the window, and sitting in a chair between the desk and window was Kiwi.

"So, Vegeta, what brings you to this sector?" Kiwi asked, leaning back in his chair.

"I'm looking for someone," Vegeta answered. He waked across the office and stood next to the window, looking out at the base below. "Tell me Kiwi, has word of Frieza's downfall reached the border?"

"Only the rumors," Kiwi said. He stood up from his chair and faced Vegeta. "They say that a Saiyan defeated Lord Frieza."

"A _Super_ Saiyan defeated him," Vegeta corrected. He kept looking out the window, taking note of where each plasma cannon was positioned. "Everyone believed that he had perished when Namek blew up, but recently I have learned that Kakarot survived."

"And you're looking for him, I presume," Kiwi guessed.

Vegeta nodded. "I suspect that Kakarot escaped in one of the ships belonging to the Ginyu Force. If he accidentally activated the emergency autopilot, it should have guided him to the first habitable planet in its path."

"And you believe that planet is on the border?" Kiwi asked.

"Or beyond it," Vegeta added, turning towards Kiwi. "The stars that Namek used to orbit aren't far from here, only a couple of parsecs away. It's possible that Kakarot crossed the border before Cooler ordered you to shoot down any ship that tries."

"Then he's out of your reach," Kiwi said, crossing his arms. "Until Cooler returns I can't let anyone cross, not even you."

"Who said anything about _letting_ me?" Vegeta corrected.

With a smile on his face Vegeta put one hand on the window, and with a small burst of energy he shattered it into a million pieces. Before the shards of glass could even reach the ground Vegeta opened fire, shooting hundreds of energy blasts from his hand. Each blast hit one of the plasma cannons spread across the base, creating large explosion that reduced the cannons to piles of smoking hot slag. In under a minute half of the base's defenses were obliterated, specifically the half that was on the same side of the base as Kiwi's office.

Vegeta jumped out of the shattered window and flew up to the tower's roof, setting foot on it and facing the other half of the base. With both hands he opened fire on that side's plasma cannons, destroying all of them and completely disarming the base. When he was finished Vegeta took out the small capsule that contained his ship, squeezing a button on one end and then throwing it onto the roof. In a cloud of smoke the spaceship reappeared, exactly as it had been when Vegeta had collapsed it earlier.

At a casual pace Vegeta boarded his spaceship, closing the door behind him. Vegeta pressed the launch button and the ship took off, leaving the disarmed base behind. Vegeta laughed when he looked out a window, seeing hundreds of soldiers attempting to shoot him down with blasters. Without their plasma cannons the soldiers below lacked the firepower to even hit the ship as it flew into space, much less destroy it.

Once the ship was in space Vegeta set a new course, heading straight to the border and crossing through it. "If you're out there Kakarot, I will find you," Vegeta muttered, watching the stars fly by as he entered someone else's empire.

* * *

_A few days later, many light years away…_

Aboard the bridge of an Imperial Star Destroyer, Darth Vader was looking through the front window as the battleship exited hyperspace. The blue void of hyperspace changed to the black void of regular space, dotted with distant stars. Straight ahead was the desert planet Tatooine, and in the battleship's sights was a smaller diplomatic ship. It would be only a few minutes before the ship could be intercepted and boarded, and Darth Vader planned to personally recover the stolen plans for the Death Star.

But as he patiently waited something caught Darth Vader's attention, turning his head towards his left. "What is that?"

An officer standing next to him didn't see anything out of the ordinary besides the diplomatic ship. "What is it Lord Vader?"

"I sense something," Vader muttered. "There is a disturbance in the Force. Someone powerful is coming."

_A/N: Just to be clear, the Star Wars portions of this crossover are focused on the original trilogy and occasional searches on the Wookieepedia. If anything contradicts the Expanded Universe please let me know._


	2. Tatooine

Chapter 2: Tatooine

After a few days of flying into unfamiliar space Vegeta's ship detected a habitable world, and Vegeta changed course to reach it. When the ship was in visual range Vegeta saw a desert planet orbiting a pair of stars, and he saw many other ships orbiting the planet. Dwarfing every other ship in the system was an Imperial Star Destroyer, a large triangular battle cruiser that had a command tower above huge engines, and it was pursuing a smaller and narrower ambassadorial ship.

"A space battle, neat," Vegeta muttered. He saw the smaller ship launch a series of escape pods, which the Star Destroyer fired upon and destroyed all but one of them. Vegeta sensed no lifeforms aboard the last escape pod, and guessed that was why it was spared.

That's when the Star Destroyer's sensors detected Vegeta's ship, and turned its weapons towards him. Large guns shot green blaster bolts at Vegeta, but his ship's small size made most of the shots miss. A few shots hit the edges of the ship and skipped off its spherical angles, leaving black scorch marks behind. The impacts shook the ship and knocked it off course, as well as adding a fast spin to the ship as it flew towards the planet.

A direct hit disabled the ship's artificial gravity, but that didn't stop Vegeta from hurrying to the controls. "Dammit, where are the weapons on this thing!?" Vegeta cursed. His fingers practically flew over the controls as he tried to find the weapon systems, but to his dismay Vegeta discovered that the ship had no weapons at all.

Immediately Vegeta flew to the nearest wall, which also served as part of the ship's inner hull. The ship's spin made that part of the hull face the Star Destroyer every few seconds, which Vegeta could tell by sensing the energies of the crew aboard the Star Destroyer. Vegeta placed his gloved right hand on the hull and focused his energy into his hand, condensing it into the space between his gloved fingertips and the hull. From his fingertips and his palm the energy burned through the hull and made six small holes, and through those holes six small blue energy beams shot into space and converged a foot away from the ship.

From the spot the beams converged together a thicker beam of energy fired into space, striking the top side of the Star Destroyer with each rotation of the ship. The thicker beam pierced through the Star Destroyer's shields and sliced into the hull, carving a line through several decks. Repeated hits left dozens of lines of damage in the Star Destroyer, each a few dozen feet apart from each other. Over a few minutes the entire length of the Star Destroyer was damaged, but the attack stopped hitting it as Vegeta's ship passed it by.

When Vegeta stopped firing his attack he felt the vacuum of space pull against his hand, stopped only by the glove he wore and pressed against the holes he'd just made. Vegeta pulled his hand free and left the glove behind to plug the holes, preventing the air in his ship from escaping into space. He flew back to the controls and hit the accelerator, increasing the ship's speed to escape the Star Destroyer's firing range. Through one of the windows Vegeta caught glimpses of the Star Destroyer falling behind, before burning hot atmosphere started to replace the view.

Flying into the planet's atmosphere at uncontrolled speed made air burn around the ship, making it appear like a comet to the inhabitants on the surface. At the ship's controls Vegeta worked to stabilize the ship's descent, but it was falling too fast for the thrusters to slow it down enough in time. All the controls could accomplish was reorienting the ship into its upright position, falling bottom first towards the planet.

Vegeta flew up to the ship's roof and pushed against it, applying as much force as he could without tearing the ship apart. And yet the ship didn't slow down one bit, as if Vegeta's efforts were doing nothing at all. Then Vegeta realized what the problem was, that the upward force he was applying was being negated by the downward force his flight was pushing against the floor.

"Damn You Newton!" Vegeta cursed. To get around the physics problem Vegeta hurried to the door and pressed the open button, but the door stayed shut while the ship was moving. "Now is not the time for safety features!"

Needing to get outside now Vegeta punched the door hard enough to make a large dent, popping half of the door off the frame. Fierce winds and burning air rushed through the gap, heating up the interior of the ship. With both hands Vegeta grabbed the door and peeled it back, widening the gap enough for him to fit through. Vegeta jumped through the gap and through the burning air, only feeling the heat for a second before taking flight in the high atmosphere.

Once he was outside Vegeta took in the view of the landscape from above, seeing endless deserts and rocky wastelands scattered across the horizon. But Vegeta turned his attention straight down to where his ship was still falling, heading straight for a collision with a rocky plateau. After half a second of powering up a blue aura Vegeta dived towards his ship, quickly catching up with it and then matching its speed. Then he flew into the burning air surrounding the ship, shielded from the heat by his aura and armor.

Underneath the ship Vegeta pressed his hands against the bottom hull, pushing upward to slow the ship's descent. Being outside allowed the downward force of his flight to push against the environment, and thus the upward force slowed down the ship. As Vegeta slowed the ship down the burning air around it disappeared, no longer having sufficient friction to ignite. In the last few dozen meters above the ground Vegeta slowed the ship to a gentle fall, drifting down the rest of the way to a graceful touchdown.

"Well that was fun," Vegeta muttered, setting the ship down on a rocky plateau. Landing gear deployed once the ship was on the ground to set it upright, but the damaged door only opened halfway. "Now where on this rock am I going to get the materials to repair this thing?"

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

High above the planet the Star Destroyer settled into a temporary but stable orbit, remaining above the polar region for now. It had successfully disabled and captured the ambassadorial ship, despite the damage inflicted by the unidentified vessel. Repair teams were scrambling to every damaged section to fix the ship, rushing to get the ship fit for interstellar travel. The order to make the jump to lightspeed could come at any moment, and any delay could incur the wrath of Darth Vader.

Fortunately for the crew Darth Vader was otherwise preoccupied, as he was currently interrogating one of the prisoners in the Star Destroyer's brig. "What have you done with those plans?!" he demanded, his presence intimidating in the small white room.

The prisoner was none other than Princess Leia of Alderaan, recently taken from the ambassadorial ship. Her white clothes were scuffled while her black hair remained in its twin bun style, and she remained defiant staring into the eyes of Darth Vader's helmet. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"The plans that were transmitted to your ship shortly after they were stolen," Darth Vader specified. "We know they were aboard your ship, where are they now!"

"There never were any plans," Leia denied again. "You have no right to keep me locked up in here."

"I have every right to hold a member of the Rebel Alliance!" Darth Vader corrected. He turned to the door and it opened as he approached, but he stopped within the doorway turned back towards Leia. "One way or another, I will get those plans!"

Darth Vader left the brig and the door closed behind him, leaving the princess prisoner locked up for transport. He walked through the halls of the Star Destroyer to reach another part of the ship, having to travel through undamaged sections instead of the direct route. That inconvenience convinced him to head for the bridge at the rear of the ship, at the top of the command tower. The bridge was a long room with computer stations along the sides, two sets of technical stations on a lower level divided by a main level walkway, and large viewing windows facing the front of the Star Destroyer.

"Report," Darth Vader ordered as he entered the bridge, seeing the damage through the windows and wanting an explanation.

Standing on the walkway was Captain Wermis, the commanding officer for the Star Destroyer. He was a black haired man and wore the standard grey uniform of the imperial fleet. "This ship was attacked, sir."

"By what?" Darth Vader demanded, coming to a stop in front of the captain.

Captain Wermis held out a palm-sized holographic projector, which displayed an image in between him and Darth Vader. It showed the ship that had attacked the Star Destroyer in shades of blue color, and it showed the method it attacked with. A sphere shaped ship with a converging laser weapon had Darth Vader's full attention, finding it suspiciously similar to the empire's newest weapon.

"The resemblance is uncanny," Captain Wermis said.

"Yes," Darth Vader agreed. He pondered the implications of this news, considering every possibility no matter how unlikely. "It appears that the rebels were faster at decoding those plans than we anticipated, and are already manufacturing their own prototypes."

"So fleeing to Tatooine was a trap," Captain Wermis guessed.

Darth Vader looked through the windows again. "Doubtful," he said, basing his judgment on the pattern of the damage. "If the rebels had planned this they would made a direct hit to test the prototype, not make a series of glancing blows."

"A malfunction maybe?" Captain Wermis suggested. "We did hit it before it could fire."

"Perhaps," Darth Vader said. "Was this weapon destroyed?"

"We didn't see it explode, so probably not," Captain Wermis answered. "It was last seen on a collision course with Tattooine."

"Send another search team down to the planet," Darth Vader ordered. "The last thing we need right now is for the Hutts to find this prototype weapon."

* * *

With his ship safely secured in its capsule form, Vegeta flew through the skies of Tattooine. He headed for the closest concentrations of life energy he could sense, which was coming from a large mesa on the edge of a desert. On top of the mesa was a tall cylindrical building, bordered by a few smaller towers. When Vegeta arrived he landed in front of the building, finding a large metal gate for a door.

"Knock Knock," Vegeta announced, punching the gate and making an arm deep dent in it.

A circle shaped hatch on the gate flipped open, allowing a mechanical eye on a stick to extend out and look at Vegeta. It spoke in a machine language that Vegeta didn't know, before it slid back through the hatch and closed it.

"I said, 'Knock Knock,'" Vegeta repeated, this time holding his palm towards the gate. He fired a blast of energy at the gate, blowing up part of it and making a hole three times his size. "On second thought, I'll just let myself in."

On the other side of the gate was a very startled guard, whose species appeared like a large pig standing on hind legs. After taking a second to recover the guard picked up a battleax and charged at Vegeta, intending to hack off the intruders head. Vegeta caught the battleax in one hand, smiling when he saw the guard try to pull it free. Then Vegeta threw the battleax and the guard with it, laughing while the battleax hit the wall and the guard's head slammed into the handle.

With the guard dealt with Vegeta walked further inside the building, entering a dark corridor with only his recently made hole providing light. At the far end there were steps leading down and turning away, leading to an area that Vegeta sensed more people at. But there was another person in the corridor, whose energy Vegeta sensed from behind a support pillar.

"I know someone's back there," Vegeta said, glaring at the pillar.

Slowly a pale skinned humanoid walked into view, who had a large tentacle instead of hair and it was wrapped around his neck. "_Why are you here?_" he asked in an alien language that Vegeta didn't know, but was able to guess at the meaning of it.

"I need spaceship parts and raw materials," Vegeta answered. "Now it's obvious that you're not the person in charge, so bring me to him."

"_Or what?_" the humanoid asked.

Vegeta aimed one palm back at the gate and fired another energy blast, blowing another hole in it just as large as the first. "That's what."

"_Right this way._"

The humanoid led Vegeta down the steps to a lower level, hearing noise coming from below. While descending down the steps the noise cleared into music and mixed conversations. When they reached the bottom of the steps they entered an audience chamber, featuring a wide open space that housed dozens of people from many varied species. But dominating the space was a large slug-like being with small arms, many times Vegeta's size and whose sheer mass seemed to be mostly fat, and it was sitting on a stone bench with an arm rest on one end.

"You must be the guy in charge around here," Vegeta said, stopping on top of a metal grate embedded in the floor.

The slug being spoke something in an alien tongue that Vegeta did not understand, but he needn't bother with trying to get the gist of it. There was a silver colored protocol droid standing next to the bench, serving as a translator. "Jabba wishes to know who dares to enter here without invitation."

"So Jabba's your name,"Vegeta muttered. "Well then, Jabba, I am Prince Vegeta, and I will be taking what I need to repair my spaceship. And it would be appreciated if you would hand over what I need so that I don't have to tear this place apart."

Jabba laughed, and then spoke more words which the droid translated. "No prince orders any of the Hutts, much less the mighty Jabba." More words followed. "Provide one good reason to not terminate your life."

"Because you can't," Vegeta answered.

In response Jabba slammed a fist on a button in his arm rest, activating a trapdoor disguised as the metal grate Vegeta stood on. The grate swung down from beneath Vegeta's feet, and gravity pulled him down into a pit below. Jabba pressed another button in his arm rest, which made the bench slide closer to the open trapdoor for a better view. But Jabba only saw Vegeta rising up and out of the pit, and then hovering just above Jabba's eye level.

Shocked words came from Jabba, translated as "What sorcery is this?"

"I _tried_ to be polite," Vegeta said, annoyance dripping from his voice. "I _tried_ to be civilized about this, but _nooooo_, you had to resist. Now I'm going to have to kill you, kill everyone in this building, blow up this building, and take whatever I can find in the rubble."

Jabba spoke quickly and the droid translated even faster. "Nowdon'tbeso-"

Vegeta blasted the droid first, blowing up the upper half and leaving the legs standing. "Too late," Vegeta said. Then he fired one large blast on Jabba the Hutt, hitting dead center and blowing him into several large and squishy chunks.

Every last person nearby pulled a gun out of their holsters and opened fire on Vegeta, shooting blaster bolts of various colors at him from all directions. The blaster bolts bounced off Vegeta with no harm to him, other than feeling slight warmth where his skin was hit. Ricochets scattered blaster bolts everywhere and struck anyone unfortunate enough to be in the way, and within five seconds half of the shooters were killed by each other's shots.

"Pathetic," Vegeta commented. He crossed his arms and focused his energy around his body, making himself glow with blue light. When Vegeta threw his arms out the energy was released in an explosion, one large enough to kill everyone nearby and blow up the entire building.

When the dust settled Vegeta saw daylight, as he was now outside and hovering above a smoldering crater. Though pleased by the destruction he caused, Vegeta quickly realized that he may have gone just a little bit overboard. Now there was no one nearby to provide the materials he needed, and he would have to search through the rubble by hand to find it himself. So he landed and got to work salvaging the rubble, trying to find anything he could use.

Ten minutes later Vegeta heard the roar of a starship engine nearby, and he looked up to see a ship coming in for a landing. It resembled a backwards radar dish, engines burning from the round section with a cylindrical body in front. Two horizontal wings stuck out from the sides of a cockpit at the top of the cylindrical section, guiding the ship in for a landing. The ship turned horizontal and landed next to the crater with its engines on the ground, where the bottom of the cylindrical section opened into an entrance ramp.

From inside the ship a man in blue body armor walked outside, his face hidden under a helmet with a T shaped visor. A blaster and several thermal detonators were holstered on his belt, and on his back was a combination rocket launcher and jetpack. Once he was on solid ground he surveyed the area, seeing Vegeta in the crater. He ignited his jetpack to make a long leap into the crater, landing a few feet away from Vegeta.

"Since you're the only one still alive, I'm going to assume you're responsible for this," the stranger said. He took a glance to the left and a glance to the right, only finding more rubble everywhere. "Nice work."

"And you are?" Vegeta asked, crossing his arms.

"Boba Fett."

* * *

Aboard the Star Destroyer still in orbit Darth Vader felt a small disturbance in the Force, interrupting his evening maintenance of his life support systems. Someone important to the planet's politics had just died, leaving a political void for someone new to fill. There would be instability throughout the entire region for years to come, which would be a thorn in the empire's side until a new political balance would establish itself.

Within minutes Darth Vader was back on the bridge, this time meeting with Captain Wermis just in front of the windows. "Have the search teams reported anything?" Darth Vader asked.

"Team One found evidence of droids in the traced escape pod," Captain Wermis answered. "Team Two traced the weapon's atmospheric ionization trail to the planet surface, but has found no evidence of any wreckage."

An alarm sounded at one control station on the bridge's lower level, and the alarm stopped when an officer responded to it. The officer analyzed the sensor data that had triggered the alarm, rereading it several times to be absolutely certain. "Captain, our sensors have just detected an explosion at Jabba the Hutt's palace."

"What's that Hutt up to this time?" Captain Wermis asked.

"Sir, it's gone," the officer reported. "Jabba's palace, it's completely gone."

That news got Darth Vader and Captain Wermis's complete attention, and Wermis hurried to the officer's station to confirm the report. "Well I'll be damned. Someone finally got a bomb inside Jabba's palace _and_ set it off."

"Order the closest search team to confirm Jabba's demise," Darth Vader commanded. While he was certain that was the explanation for what he felt in the Force, it never hurt to have physical proof. "I want to know who's responsible."

While carrying out the order Captain Wermis noticed that the second search team wasn't very far from the ruins of Jabba's palace, less than half the distance to the next closest civilization. "Lord Vader, I believe there may be a connection between this event and the weapon that attacked us. It can't be a coincidence that its trail ends in proximity to Jabba's palace."

Darth Vader didn't respond to the speculation, as his attention was drawn to the planet. Something down there was disturbing the Force, a power different from anything he had encountered before. In fact, that disturbance had started shortly after the Star Destroyer arrived in the Tattooine system. The intensity of the disturbance had fluctuated the entire time, strongest during the attack and during the destruction of Jabba's palace.

"What's the status of this ship's repairs?" Darth Vader asked.

An officer monitoring the ship from a station spoke up. "The repairs are nearly complete Lord Vader. We'll have hyperdrive fully restored within the hour."

"Take us out of orbit," Darth Vader ordered. "Once the repairs are finished, set a course for the Alderaan System."

* * *

After finding Jabba the Hutt's disembodied head in the rubble, Boba Fett believed that Vegeta deserved all of the respect in the galaxy. Boba introduced himself as one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy, whose allegiance went to the highest bidder. Jabba's head would be worth an entire star system to the right buyer, more than enough payment to work for Vegeta for a time. And Boba knew exactly where to acquire the materials Vegeta needed for ship repair.

"There's a spaceport on this planet with practically everything a person could want," Boba Fett informed. He started walking towards his ship and gestured for Vegeta to follow. "Climb aboard, I'll fly you there."

Instead Vegeta floated off the ground and hovered above Boba Fett. "Just lead the way."

"Fair enough," Boba Fett said. He entered his ship and sat in the pilot's chair, hands at the controls and igniting the ship's engines.

As the ship lifted off it reoriented into a vertical position, then turned around and flew to the southeast. Vegeta flew after the ship and kept pace with it, flying just a little bit higher and slightly behind it. Boba Fett hit the accelerator and the ship's engines flared brighter, tripling its speed and soaring across the deserts. Only a blue aura appearing around Vegeta showed an increase of effort, accelerating to match the ship's speed and keep following it across the planet.

In about an hour they arrived at their destination, a spaceport that resembled a small city. Boba Fett landed his ship on a mesa overlooking the spaceport, far enough away to avoid paying any landing fees as well as the empire's stormtroopers. Once his ship was on the ground Boba exited it and stood on the edge of the mesa, and a moment later Vegeta landed next to him.

"Mos Eisley Spaceport," Boba Fett described. "You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."

"Sounds like my kind of town," Vegeta said.

Boba Fett jumped off the mesa and activated his jetpack, controlling his descent to the ground below. Vegeta jumped off as well but didn't bother controlling his fall, more than capable of withstanding impact while his feet made twin craters in the ground. From there Boba and Vegeta walked the rest of the way to Mos Eisley, entering the spaceport with no one giving them a second glance.

Within the spaceport was a small bazar that resembled a shanty town, dozens of shops housed within ragged looking tents that left one side completely open. Inside one of the shops was a small blue alien storekeeper with stubbly little limbs and moved around on small wings, keeping an eye on everyone that came and went inside. The storekeeper looked so old that he could drop dead any second, but was still mentally alert and continued to desire profitable deals.

The storekeeper spotted Boba Fett as he entered, and a sly grin spread across his wrinkled face. "Boba, you magnificent bastard, how've you been?"

"Much better than you look Watto," Boba answered. That got a chuckle out of Vegeta, which was promptly ignored. "My new friend here needs spaceship parts."

"What kind?" Watto asked.

Vegeta reached underneath his armor and took out a small sheet of paper, which he handed over to Watto. "Everything I need is on there."

Watto nodded and read the list of parts and materials, muttering aloud about which he had in stock. "Let's see… fifty cubic millimeters of liquid tibanna, got that… three dilithium crystals, don't know why you'd need them in a spaceship but whatever… a pound of mélange, getting that in a shipment sometime today… one orichalcum ingot, don't have any on hand but can get it… ten cubic centimeters of vibranium, that's gonna cost you… and a pint of white and black paint each, that's easy… and parts for an airtight door."

"How soon can you have it all ready?" Vegeta asked.

"An hour, maybe two," Watto answered. "Now, how are you going to be paying for these materials?"

"Put it on my tab," Boba answered.

"You still owe me for those hyperdrive parts from a month ago," Watto argued.

"And I'm going to add interest on that," Boba added. He took a small holographic projector out of a pocket and turned it on, showing a small image of Jabba the Hutt's severed head. "Once I sell that I could pay you back a thousandfold and still retire a rich man."

"Alright, that'll do," Watto said. He turned around and started moving around the shop, looking for where he put one of the items on the list. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to."

With nothing else to do in the shop Vegeta and Boba walked outside. "I don't know about you…" Vegeta said. "But I could use a drink."

"There's a cantina not far from here," Boba said. "It's a little rough, but I wouldn't have it any other way."

In no time at all they reached the cantina Boba mentioned, one that didn't allow droids to enter. Inside there was a band of yellow-skinned aliens playing music with a catchy tune, one that quickly got stuck in Vegeta's head. Boba was noticed by many of the cantina's patrons, some of which were good buddies of his and invited him over for a drink. Vegeta didn't bother joining them and instead took a seat at the bar, checking out the selection of beers and liquors available.

"What'll ya have?" the bartender asked.

"The Taxxonian blood-scotch," Vegeta ordered.

"Coming up," the bartender said. He poured a glass of the blood-scotch, light red in color, and passed it down to Vegeta. "Enjoy."

Meanwhile the seats to Vegeta's left were taken by a big eyed alien and a pig-nosed humanoid. The big eyed alien said something at Vegeta in an alien language, which Vegeta didn't care to understand and ignored it. Then the pig-nosed humanoid tried to get his attention. "He doesn't like you."

As he was in a good mood, Vegeta ignored the stranger and instead took a swig of his drink.

"I don't like you either."

Vegeta held up his left hand and flipped him off.

"Just watch yourself, we're wanted men. I have the death sentence on twelve systems."

"You really have no idea what you're doing right now," Vegeta said, then drank some more.

"You'll Be Dead!"

With his middle finger Vegeta shot the humanoid right in the face, blasting a hole through the pig-nose and out the back of his head. "And now you're dead."

For a moment the music stopped and everyone backed away from Vegeta, except for Boba Fett laughing. That moment quickly passed and everyone went back to their business as if nothing happened, while cantina workers hauled away the dead body. But one person still kept his attention on Vegeta, a man with black hair sitting next to a wookie.

When a glass of dark blue liquid was passed to Vegeta without him asking for it, Vegeta looked at the bartender. "What's this?"

"Andorian Ale," the bartender answered.

Vegeta picked up the glass, but didn't drink any of the ale. "And who should I thank if it's poisoned?"

"Him," the bartender said, pointing at the man by the wookie.

Vegeta stood up and walked over the table that the man and wookie were sitting at, and then took a seat across from them. "Alright, why should I care who you are?"

"The name's Han Solo," he introduced himself.

"Still not caring," Vegeta said.

"I saw what you did to that prick earlier," Han said. "I could use a man like you on my next smuggling run."

"Not interested," Vegeta said.

"You haven't even heard what I'd pay you," Han complained.

"I don't care about money," Vegeta said. "Unless you know where I can find the only other full-blooded Saiyan in the universe, you're wasting my time."

The wookie made a few roar like sounds, communicating in a way that only Han seemed to understand. "Chewy recommends the Old Republic data network on Alderaan. If this 'Saiyan' has stirred up any trouble on a civilized world, there'd be a record of it."

"Alderaan, got it," Vegeta said. He got up from his seat and was about to walk away, but a green humanoid with big black eyes stood in the way.

"Going some-"

Vegeta blasted the alien humanoid right in the chest, killing him instantly and the body fell on the floor. "Never get in my way," Vegeta warned to everyone else.

"Huh?" Han said, staring at the now dead Greedo. "Vegeta Shot First."

* * *

Two Star Destroyers were in orbit over the planet, currently patrolling the system after Darth Vader's ship made the jump to hyperspace. All was quiet in the vacuum of space, save for the occasional ship coming and going from Tattooine. The search teams were just returning from the planet surface, one having been successful in tracking the rebel escape pod while the other had failed in finding the hostile ship.

Aboard one of the Star Destroyers a bridge officer spotted something on sensors. "Sir, we have incoming!"

From the bridge's main windows the ship's captain had a visual, seeing the spherical ship leaving the atmosphere. "It's back," the captain said. "Shoot it down."

Meanwhile aboard his repaired and fully functional ship Vegeta sat at the controls, calmly drinking from a glass of scotch. He saw the Star Destroyers in orbit, both of them changing course to block his path. Vegeta didn't bother to change course, letting his ship continue flying into the shrinking space between the Star Destroyers. He just pressed a few buttons and drank more of his scotch.

Aboard one of the Star Destroyers a bridge officer noticed something unusual on sensors. "Sir, I'm seeing some strange energy readings emanating from the ship. I think it might be trying to jump to hyperspace."

"Engage motherf*%$ers," Vegeta said, pressing the last button.

Suddenly Vegeta's ship accelerated beyond the speed of light, warping space itself to achieve that velocity. To the Star Destroyers the ship simply disappeared in the blink of an eye, surprising the officers on the bridges. There was nothing on sensors consistent with a jump to hyperspace, only a sudden burst in tachyon emissions.

"The hell?" one officer muttered. "Where'd it go?"


	3. Alderaan

Chapter 3: Alderaan

After a few days of traveling through space Vegeta's ship arrived in a new system, following a set of coordinates provided by Boba Fett. The second planet from the star was a habitable world, its blue seas and green lands far more appealing than the last planet Vegeta set foot on. There cities visible from orbit scattered on the planet's surface, and Vegeta set a course to land outside of the largest city. But while still en route to the planet Vegeta noticed something odd about the system, something big that seemed to be moving on its own path instead of orbiting the planet.

"Huh? Now that's a weird moon," Vegeta muttered, finding it odd that a metal one existed and moved under its own power. He made a note to check it out later, but only after seeing what the planet had to offer.

The ship flew into the planet's atmosphere and began its descent, slowing down on a controlled course towards the targeted landing site. In the higher altitudes the ship glowed with fire, which gradually faded away as the ship slowed. Aside from a little turbulence there were no problems during the flight, allowing the ship to gently land on the planet's surface.

On the ground the ship's door opened and Vegeta stepped out, taking a deep breath of pleasant air. The lush scenery and deep blue sky reminded him of the world that Kakarot called home, which would be a decent place to settle down someday. "Now where's that data network," he wondered aloud.

Vegeta put away his ship in capsule form and pocketed it before flying away, travelling through the sky towards the closest city. When he reached his destination Vegeta found an advanced metropolis that seemed to be built around nature instead of replacing it, housing many tall buildings with commuters traveling between them in flying vehicles. Some of those vehicles swerved as Vegeta flew by, their drivers surprised to see someone traveling under his own power.

It didn't take long for Vegeta to realize he wasn't suited to finding what he needed, and that it would be much simpler and efficient to ask for directions. So he dropped out of the air and landed in one of the flying vehicles, a red one that didn't have a roof on it. There were screams from the male passenger that saw Vegeta land in the backseat, but the female driver didn't notice.

"Hi," Vegeta said.

This time both driver and passenger screamed and the vehicle swerved to the right, and it nearly crashed into a building before Vegeta reached forward and grabbed the steering wheel. The passenger was so shocked that he panicked and opened the side door, and nearly fell out of the car before the driver grabbed him.

After pulling the passenger back into the car the driver turned towards Vegeta, who was still holding onto the steering wheel. "What do you want?" she asked.

"Directions," Vegeta answered. "I need to find the Old Republic Data Network."

"That's it?" the driver questioned. "You're not stealing the car?"

"I just might if you don't drive," Vegeta warned.

The driver took back the wheel and floored the gas pedal, speeding through the city towards the new destination. Along the way several police vehicles caught them driving well above the city speed limit and started a pursuit, which Vegeta quickly ended by shooting down the police with small energy blasts that blew up their vehicles. The resulting wreckage left a trail on the ground that followed the car, one that Vegeta didn't care to cover up.

In no time at all the car arrived at a very large dome shaped building that stood above the ground on a single support column one tenth the size of the building's base, a feat of engineering that Vegeta suspected was possible with antigravity systems. The car landed on a platform attached to the edge of the building's base, where several other vehicles were already parked and unoccupied. And at the moment there was no one capable of finishing a chase here.

"Here we are," the driver said. She pointed at a set of doors that led inside. "In there you can find all the unclassified data that passes through the Empire."

"That's all I needed to hear," Vegeta said. As he hopped out of the car he heard sirens from a distance, and when he looked in the right direction he saw police on their way. "You two, hang on tight."

"What?" the passenger objected.

Vegeta grabbed the car by the bottom and lifted it up and over his head, and then he pulled his arm back and the car with it. Then Vegeta chucked the car into the sky as hard as he could, and he ignored the screams of the occupants as they were thrown miles away. At the height of the throw the driver reoriented the car and got its flight systems under control, allowing it to safely fly on a more stable path. And in the meantime the police drove right past Vegeta, ignoring him to pursue a speeding car that was getting away.

After watching the police leave Vegeta walked inside the building, finding a large lobby that had a ceiling so high that it exposed several higher floors. On every level there were rows of alternating computer terminals and old fashioned bookshelves, both of which were so numerous that the rows stretched beyond the eye could see. On every floor there were various humanoid species and all types of droids wandering around, either researching with the various forms of information or simply tidying up the place.

In the lobby there was a green skinned female behind a counter, who saw Vegeta enter the building. "Hello sir, are you looking for anything in particular today?"

"Yes actually," Vegeta answered, walking over to the counter. "I require access to data on recent events. There's someone in particular that I suspect will show up in your database."

"One moment sir," the female said. She accessed a computer on her desk and typed in some information, and a moment later a small card came out of a printer, which she handed over to Vegeta. "Guest login ID and password, there are suitable computer terminals on the third floor."

Vegeta took the card, surprised at how easy this was going. He wasn't used to seeing someone being so cooperative without having to threaten them first. "Um… thanks."

In one strong jump Vegeta leaped all the way up to the third floor, surprising everyone that saw him on his way up. There Vegeta saw many rows of computers readily available, even with plenty of people and droids using some of them. Vegeta picked one that had a chair with its back to a wall, where he promptly sat down in front of a computer screen mounted on a wooden table. He typed in the ID and password on the card, which brought the computer online and ready for use.

"Where to start," Vegeta muttered. He accessed a search engine linked to the Empire's interstellar transmissions, or at least the ones that weren't encrypted. Vegeta typed in the first search term he wanted to try, expecting to find something in a news report.

Kakarot

The computer took a few moments to search through all the data available, and produced zero results. "Nothing," Vegeta muttered. Then he realized his error, which was that Kakarot never used his birth name and thus it was never going to appear in any new data featuring him. So Vegeta tried a different search term.

Goku

The computer took another few moments, but produced the same result as before. "Hmm… he's either keeping a low profile or no one's hearing his name." Vegeta broadened his search with a term that only applied to Kakarot.

Super Saiyan

This time the computer produced something, a declassified intelligence report from near the edge of Empire space. Vegeta clicked on the report and viewed the contents, which weren't very much. Sentry droids had intercepted a transmission crossing the Empire's border, which had been sent by Cooler to inform his father that he was pursuing a Super Saiyan. Vegeta found the coordinates the transmission was sent from, and was disappointed to find that it was sent from an empty sector of space.

"Bastard was texting and driving," Vegeta cursed. There was nothing else produced in the current search, and Vegeta was out of Kakarot-specific terms. Then an idea struck his mind, that he could try tracing Kakarot's steps from the last place he saw him.

Namek

That search term got several results on the computer, all of which describing the planet's destruction. There was nothing before that event, as Namek had been a backwater planet barely worth placing on a star chart. And there was nothing after that event, as Namek was now a debris field that no one this side of the border dared to enter. Only speculation was available on Namek's destruction, everything from an unstable core to native magics to imperial superweapons crossed the data network.

"And nothing about Kakarot," Vegeta complained, seeing no sign of him in the results. "This could take a while."

* * *

Meanwhile the Death Star was settling into a high orbit above Alderaan, and aboard that sphere shaped space station Darth Vader was escorting the prisoner Princess Leia onto the bridge. There Grand Moff Tarkin was waiting with the senior staff, all having a good view of the planet through a wide window. Alderaan was the home planet of the prisoner, which Tarkin planned to use as leverage to get information out of Leia.

But while Tarkin talked Darth Vader gradually lost interest in the politician's drabble, compelled to stare at the world through the window. Something down there was disturbing the Force, a small but constant ripple that had his attention. The strangest part was that he recognized the disturbance, as it was the same kind of unfamiliar power he sensed at Tatooine. The only difference was that the disturbance was smaller this time, as though the source was in a powered down state at the moment.

By the time Darth Vader turned his attention back to the present area Tarkin was well into his conversation with Leia. "Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the Rebel base, I have chosen to test this station's destructive power on your home planet of Alderaan."

"No!" Leia objected. "Alderaan is peaceful. We have no weapons! You can't possibly…!"

"You would prefer another target?" Tarkin proposed. "A military target? Then name the system!" When Leia didn't respond Tarkin got closer and pressed the issue. "I grow tired of asking this so it will be the last time. Where is the rebel base?"

"Dantooine," Leia answered. "They're on Dantooine."

"There, you see Lord Vader she can be reasonable," Tarkin said pleasantly. He turned to the nearest officer. "Continue with the operation, you may fire when ready."

"What!" Leia yelled.

"You're far too trusting," Tarkin reasoned. "Dantooine is too far remote to make an effective demonstration. But don't worry, we will deal with your rebel friends soon enough."

"No," Leia said, trying to lunge at the Tarkin only to be held back by Darth Vader.

While the operators of the Death Star prepared the station's superlaser for firing Darth Vader gazed through the window, waiting to see the weapon destroy the planet. All system readouts on the bridge displayed power output increasing and being diverted to the weapon, focusing the power of the station's main reactor into a single planet busting shot.

But while the Death Star charged its weapon Darth Vader felt a spike in the Force disturbance on the planet, almost as if it was responding to the charging superlaser. It was moving too, and it quickly ascended from the planet's surface. And then Darth Vader sensed a massive spike in intensity from the disturbance, and that it was directly in between Alderaan and the Death Star.

Several large green lasers shot out of weapon ports lining the rim of the Death Star's dish, which converged a small distance from the station to combine and fire a single stronger superlaser. The larger green beam shot straight at the planet, reaching it in a matter of seconds. The beam struck and there was a bright flash of light that outshone the stars, but no sound within the vacuum of space. When the light faded away everyone saw that the planet of Alderaan…

…was still there.

* * *

_A few minutes earlier…_

"This is absurd!" Vegeta yelled, irritating everyone that heard him. "A trillion exabytes of data, and none of it useful!" He slammed both fists into the table that the computer rested on, smashing twin holes into the wood. "Kakarot must be on some pre-industrial backwater planet that no one bothers to make First Contact!"

Suddenly a klaxon alarm went off throughout the building, which put everyone except Vegeta in panic mode. People, aliens, and droids all scrambled for the nearest exit, abandoning everything they had been doing at the time. Vegeta calmly stood up and watched the chaos unfold, having no idea what the problem was. So he grabbed a passing silver protocol droid and stopped it in front of him.

"You, machine, what's going on?" Vegeta demanded.

"Planetwide emergency," the droid answered. It reached for the computer and plugged a finger into a port, instantly downloading the details of the emergency from the network. "There is a massive energy buildup of unknown type in high orbit, enough to theoretically destroy a planet."

"Oh hell no," Vegeta cursed. He let go of the droid before taking flight, heading straight up and breaking through several ceilings and bursting out of the building's roof. "No one destroys a planet while I'm still on it!"

While rising into the air Vegeta saw something in the deep blue sky, a spherical space station that could easily be mistaken for a small moon. But it was clearly made of metal and its single crater-like depression was far to round and orderly to be convincing. Vegeta recognized it from his trip to this planet, having passed it by on his way here. Now that he was paying attention Vegeta sensed the energies of living beings in the hundreds of thousands, but could not sense any energy on the scale of destroying planets.

"Must not be living energy," Vegeta guessed, understanding that particular flaw in the sensing ability.

Non-living energy was an unpredictable factor in the life of a warrior, as it did not conform to the general rules of battle. In theory it could reach any level of power or intensity, but the infrastructure required to generate that energy would have to be equally massive. And while the infrastructure to generate energy could be easily built it could just as easily be damaged in battle, which was why Frieza had always preferred using powerful fighters instead of powerful weapons. But this empire was a different story, and it was clear that the rulers here had the opposite mentality.

Vegeta flew into part of the atmosphere that was directly in between the planet and the space station, and then hovered there horizontally with his back to the ground. Clenching his fists and widening his stance Vegeta started powering up, generating a blue aura that intensified with every second. Then Vegeta put both hands together on his left side, focusing his energy through his arms to charge a powerful attack.

"Let's see how it likes my Gal-"

A giant green beam shot from the space station into the atmosphere, taking Vegeta by surprise before he could fire his attack. The beam struck Vegeta dead on before he could block, hitting him with all the power needed to destroy a planet. A gigantic explosion tore apart reality itself at the epicenter, plunging Vegeta into the blue abyss of hyperspace. Within a fraction of a second reality came crashing back together, yanking Vegeta out of the abyss and back into normal space. But that brief period in hyperspace, combined with withstanding the explosion, drained Vegeta's energy and weakened his body, causing him to fall out of the sky back down to the planet.

Vegeta's body slammed into the ground hard enough to make an impact crater, which only made pain for him during his weakened state. Looking up he saw a wide hole in the blue sky, exposing the black void of space with stars poking through. The edges of the hole gradually closed in on the center, a result of air rushing in to fill a void in the disrupted atmosphere. Intense winds swirled as unpredictable gales blew through the area, whipping through Vegeta's hair as he stared at the space station above.

"Okay, that was impressive."

* * *

"Report!"

Tarkin's order made the crew on the Death Star's bridge scramble to find an answer, all while a few stormtroopers came in and took Princess Leia back to her prison cell. Computer screens showed all kinds of sensor readings taken during and after the superlaser fired, providing plenty of data to sift through. One officer found a possible explanation for why Alderaan still existed, and he stood up to face Tarkin to explain.

"Sir, it appears that the blast went off prematurely," the officer reported. "It must have hit something in the atmosphere, something powerful enough to disrupt the laser and detonate the explosion."

"Impossible," Tarkin said. "Alderaan may have some of the best defenses in the galaxy, but we accounted for that with this battle station. What could they possibly have that's so powerful but not in our database?"

"A Jedi," Darth Vader interrupted. That directed Tarkin's attention to him. "I tried to warn you. The power to destroy a planet is insignificant compared to the power of the Force."

"You knew," Tarkin accused.

"I suspected," Darth Vader corrected. His gaze turned back towards the planet, sensing a change in the disturbance he felt. "And it's on the move."

* * *

After rising to his feet Vegeta retrieved the capsule containing his ship, pressed the button on it, and threw the capsule to let the ship poof into existence. The ship's door was already open and Vegeta went inside, but did not go straight for the controls. Instead he went for the living quarters in the ship's sub-level, and stopped in front of a large cabinet next to a bed. Inside the cabinet Vegeta kept something he promised himself to only use in emergencies, which was contained within a small brown sack closed with a string.

"Good, they're still here," Vegeta muttered, remembering when he took the senzu beans.

_Two months ago…_

"_Baldy, get me some of those magic beans!"_

"_Why?"_

"_If you don't you're going to need one in five… four… three…!"_

"_Senzu Bean! Coming right up!"_

"Ah foresight," Vegeta said, picking up the sack of senzu beans. Vegeta removed one of the four beans from the sack and ate it, which instantly restored his body to full health and completely rejuvenated his energy reserves. "No idea how these things work, but it works very well."

Vegeta put away the rest of the beans and returned to the ship's main level, getting to the controls and starting the engine. The ship took off and soared straight up into the sky, but it was shaken by turbulent winds during the ascent. Through the windows Vegeta saw several large storms forming across the landscape, unnatural catastrophes in progress created by the explosion in atmosphere. But in between those storms there were clear patches of sky, which many local ships were passing through to seek refuge off-world.

"Smart move," Vegeta commented. He pressed some buttons on the controls to turn on the ship's transmitter, setting it to broadcast on every frequency worldwide. "Attention everyone on this planet: A planetary scale weapon has your world in its sights. Your world was spared once by the power of Prince Vegeta, but I am not in the mood to do so again. So I highly recommend evacuating the entire planet immediately."

As the ship entered space Vegeta shut of the transmitter, certain he'd gotten the point across. Then he plotted a course straight towards the space station, interested in meeting the people that built the powerful weapon. It was clearly some kind of military installation, which would definitely have access to information denied to civilians on the planet. Part of him thought he should be pissed at the space station for trying to kill him, but it was clear that the weapon wasn't meant for him.

When the ship approached the space station there was an abrupt course correction, though not of Vegeta's choosing. A tractor beam had locked onto Vegeta's ship and was pulling it into a hangar on the space station's equator. The ship passed through a specialized force field that kept the hangar pressurized but allowed ships to pass, and on the other side of the force field the ship automatically reoriented itself to match artificial gravity.

The ship's landing gear extended and settled on the floor of the hangar, and then the engine automatically shut off. Within the hangar dozens of white-armored stormtroopers surrounded the ship, aiming blasters at it when the door opened. Vegeta calmly walked out of his ship and stared at all the troopers, smiling the entire time.

"A welcoming committee," Vegeta said.

That's when Darth Vader entered the hangar from an adjacent corridor, escorted by a few imperial officers. The stormtroopers around the ship parted to clear a path for their lord, providing Darth Vader a clear view of Vegeta as he walked towards him. Darth Vader stopped and stood a few feet away from Vegeta, feeling immense power emanating through the Force.

"So you're what I've been sensing all this time," Darth Vader said. "You stopped this battle station from destroying a planet, and appear unharmed. Impressive."

"I might consider that high praise, if I knew who you are," Vegeta said.

That question was a surprise, as virtually everyone in the empire knew who Darth Vader was. But then again he had never sensed this kind of power before, suggesting that it originated from outside the empire's borders. "I am Darth Vader. And you are?"

"Prince Vegeta," he answered. "And in case you're wondering, I come from the space formerly known as Frieza's empire."

"Formerly?" Darth Vader questioned. He remembered the emperor renewing the neutrality treaty when he took power, and both empires generally left each other alone. "I presume that means he's dead."

"Yes, and I am looking for the Saiyan that killed him," Vegeta answered. "However, after seeing this station in action, I'm interested in learning how it works."

"Just as I'm interested in learning how you've managed to survive it," Darth Vader responded.

"Touché," Vegeta said.

Interrupting the conversation was the arrival of Tarkin, who quite rudely walked in between Darth Vader and Vegeta. He had overhead the last part of the conversation, enough to confirm that it was Vegeta that had spoiled his demonstration of the Death Star's power. "You there, do have any idea what you've done?"

"Not even the slightest," Vegeta answered. "At least, not how it applies to you."

"You ruined our efforts to bring order to the empire," Tarkin accused. "This station was meant to be our greatest deterrent against the rebellion, to show that we will destroy entire planets to make them submit."

"Ha," Vegeta laughed. "You need this entire station to destroy worlds? Please, I can do the same all by myself."

That claim piqued Tarkin's interest and he raised one eyebrow. "Really? I find that hard to believe."

"Ever hear of planet Arlia?" Vegeta asked.

"No," Tarkin answered.

"Exactly," Vegeta said.

Tarkin laughed at that, shaking his head for a moment. "You're hardly convincing. But I think a demonstration would change that."

"Fair enough," Vegeta said.

* * *

In nearly no time at all Tarkin and Darth Vader were back on the Death Star's bridge, gazing through the main window at Alderaan. Even from high orbit they could see storms ravaging the planet surface, so large and so numerous that they would rage on for weeks. All over the globe ships dared the turbulent weather to escape the planet, beginning a great exodus from a doomed world. Tarkin didn't mind letting those ships flee, as they were perfectly capable of bearing witness to the empire's newfound might.

Meanwhile Vegeta was floating inside one of the Death Star's weapon ports, an inactive one at the bottom of the dish that was used for aiming the superlaser. A specialized force field contained atmosphere within the weapon port, but would allow anything else to pass through it. Vegeta was floating in the middle of the weapon port and seeing the planet straight ahead, sensing the population scattering to the stars.

Through an intercom Tarkin spoke to Vegeta. "Whenever you're ready," he said. Tarkin shut off the intercom and spoke to Darth Vader. "I sincerely doubt th-"

Suddenly the entire space station began to tremble, and at the exact same time power fluctuations interfered with every system. Though a video feed Tarkin saw Vegeta clenching his fist and widening his stance, as well as a blue aura erupting from Vegeta's body and intensifying with every second. Sensors went off the scale as they tried to measure the sheer amount of energy, the likes of which never encountered before in a living being.

Vegeta put both hands together on his left side, focusing his energy through his arms to charge a powerful attack. His blue aura shifted and condensed around his hands and changed to purple, ready to unleash all of his might. "Galick Gun…" Vegeta declared, and then thrust both hands forward. "FIRE!"

A massive purple beam of energy shot from Vegeta's hands, which was so wide that it filled all of the space within the weapon port. The beam erupted from the port and excessive energy expanded to fill the Death Star's dish, making it look like the station was firing the Galick Gun attack. Everyone with eyes saw the purple beam shoot straight at Alderaan, reaching the planet and piercing the atmosphere in a matter of seconds.

The attack hit Alderaan dead on, and from ground level it resembled a column of purple light slamming into the planet. Energy burned its way through rock towards the planet's interior, starting a vertical shaft that had gigantic cracks spreading from it. Earthquakes struck all over the globe, triggered by the beam's force hitting a tectonic plate. But that was only the beginning.

After a few seconds the purple beam pierced the planet's crust and struck the mantle, where it then started pushing through molten rock. Every single volcano on Alderaan erupted at the exact same time, spewing lava from the destabilized mantle. Plumes of ash and smoke rose into the air and mixed with the storms in progress, spreading toxic gases over thousands of miles at a time. The devastation could be seen from orbit, patches of black and grey spreading into the natural green and blue world.

"Well there goes the environment," Tarkin mused. "That'll take centuries to replace."

But Vegeta's attack wasn't done yet, and it continued to bore its way into Alderaan's interior. After a few more minutes the beam struck the planet's outer core, hitting a sphere of molten nickel and iron. The effect on the planet's magnetic field was immediate and spectacular, magnetic field lines twisting and warping out of alignment and dipping to the atmosphere, lighting up the sky with electromagnetic particles and creating vast auroras visible from space. On the day side of the planet all organic life that survived the volcanos began to cook in the light, now that the more dangerous radiation was no longer blocked by the magnetic field.

And then the beam struck the inner core, shattering the small but dense sphere of solid nickel and iron. Gravity itself began to fluctuate everywhere on Alderaan as the center of mass broke apart and moved, making objects heavier in some places but lighter in others. Amidst the turmoil colossal cracks spread across the entire surface and spewed magma everywhere, and the tectonic plates themselves began to tip and sink into the mantle, returning the planet to the primordial ball of molten rock from whence it came eons ago.

Then just as suddenly as the attack began the last of its energy left the Death Star, joining with the energy that was collecting within Alderaan. At the very center of the planet the energy of the Galick Gun replaced the core, and built up pressure within the planet. Then the energy was detonated and the pressure released, causing the entire planet to explode. Molten rock and fragments of solid land scattered into space, chasing the last of the fleeing ships that witness their homeworld's destruction.

On the Death Star's bridge Tarkin's jaw dropped, completely overwhelmed by what he had just witnessed. It was just so unreal that an individual could possess the same destructive power as this space station. "Incredible…" Tarkin muttered, a sentiment shared by the rest of the bridge crew.

But not by Darth Vader, whose hand was subtly stretching fingers towards a control console. With a little Force manipulation he made a button press itself, which shut down one particular specialized force field.

Tarkin heard a click from the button, and since no one was at that console Tarkin turned towards Darth Vader. "What did you do?"

"Sir!" one officer interrupted, pointing at the window.

On the other side was Vegeta, drifting into the vacuum of space. Tarkin saw him out there, and then glared at Darth Vader. "You _Spaced_ Him!"

* * *

"They _Spaced_ Me!"

Vegeta's scream was silent in the vacuum of space, as the air from the depressurized weapon port was already gone. Normally there wouldn't be a problem for him to blast open a hole in the space station's hull and fly inside, but expending enough energy to blow up a large planet in spectacular fashion left him nearly drained of energy. What energy he had left was slipping away by keeping Vegeta's body intact in the vacuum, and adding to the danger was the lack of oxygen to breathe.

Already Vegeta's vision was starting to blur as his lungs burned, but he could still see that he was drifting away from the space station in microgravity. The Death Star had its own gravitational pull that tugged on Vegeta, but it wasn't enough for him to work with. Vegeta found it difficult to concentrate under these extremes, too difficult for him to properly fly. Instead Vegeta used the next best thing, and so he aimed his palms away from the station and fired very small energy blasts.

The insignificant blasts had barely any power in them, but that wasn't the point. Vegeta used those blasts to generate primitive thrust in the microgravity environment, countering his outbound velocity and achieving very low orbit around the Death Star. In that orbit Vegeta drifted over the station's bridge, seeing Tarkin and Darth Vader through the window. There Vegeta put as much energy as he could muster into a pair of continuous blasts, using them as rockets to propel him straight at the window.

Vegeta's body struck the window hard enough to shatter it and expose the bridge to space, resulting in all the air inside blowing out into the vacuum. Immediately emergency bulkheads slammed shut over the broken window, sealing the bridge and allowing vents to repressurize the interior. There was a moment of chaos inside, a moment for Vegeta to get air back into his lungs. However, in the middle of a deep breath the air stopped moving down his throat, cutting off Vegeta from precious oxygen.

"Wha…" Vegeta barely muttered, his hand instinctively rising to his throat.

Darth Vader had his hand reaching toward Vegeta's throat, using the Force to halt the air inside. "Even a Saiyan has to breathe."

"Vader, release him!" Tarkin ordered.

"No," Darth Vader refused. "He is too powerful to be allowed to live."

His vision fading to black Vegeta aimed one palm at Darth Vader, using all he had left to charge an energy blast. But then the energy began to fade along with Vegeta's consciousness, and then he collapsed onto the floor. Darth Vader maintained his grip on the Force, uncertain of how long it would take for a Saiyan to die without oxygen.

"Release him now!" Tarkin ordered. "He mentioned that another one of his kind is out there. We need to understand how his power works so we can create a countermeasure against it. And for that we need him alive!"

Darth Vader kept up the Force Choke, but eventually relented. "As you wish," Darth Vader said, letting go of the Force and allowing air to enter Vegeta's lungs. Then he turned toward Tarkin. "I will only warn you once. This scheme of yours _will_ backfire."

"You're too pessimistic," Tarkin said. Just to be certain Vegeta was out cold Tarkin nudged a foot into his foot, getting no response. Then he gave an order to the bridge officers nearby. "Put him in Cell Block 1138."

* * *

_A few minutes earlier…_

Aboard a ship called the Millennium Falcon traveling through hyperspace, in the middle of training a new apprentice, an old man known as Obi Wan Kenobi felt a tremor through the Force. An event unlike anything else had just happened somewhere in the galaxy, one so large that it seemed unimaginable. Kenobi walked over to the nearest chair and sat down, completely shocked by what he felt.

The new apprentice Luke Skywalker noticed his old friend's discomfort. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"I felt a great disturbance in the Force," Kenobi answered. "As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror… and are still screaming."


End file.
